By Amy Gilroy
Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad 2, which becomes available today, may see sales reach 600,000 units at launch, surpassing the original iPad, which sold 300,000 units in its first 24 hours, said analysts.
Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies and Brian Marshall of Gleacher & Co, are both expecting 500,000 in iPad 2 sales, said Bloomberg.
The newest iPad has an advantage at retail as it will be launched in Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) outlets, as well as Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT) stores plus some smaller Apple resellers totalling over 10,000 outlets. Last year the iPad was only offered in Apple Stores and Best Buy, or a total of about 1,100 stores.
The original iPad is said to be the fastest selling product by dollar volume, as it passed the $2 billion mark in less than three months. Microsoft’s (NYSE:MSFT) Kinect is the fastest growth product by unit sales, averaging 133,333 units daily in its first 60 days.
The iPad 2 is 33 percent thinner than the original and it’s actually thinner than an iPhone 4. It adds dual cameras with FaceTime video chat and its dual core processor makes it twice as fast as the original iPad. Video is improved so the tablet may easily be used with a TV and charge while you use it.
There’s a new flap like cover for the device (as an option) , which may fold up to become a stand. Pricing remains similar to the original iPad starting at $499, while the original dropped to starting price of $399.
Amy Gilroy is the Editor of CEoutlook and a Contributing Author to Market Playground and Satellite Radio Playground.
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